The China Option

A few months after her twenty-first birthday and shortly after graduating with an unmarketable degree in modern European history, Sophia Erickson was waiting tables in rural Massachusetts and contemplating years of student loan servitude. After a chance email exchange with an old friend, she bought a one-way ticket to Beijing. The China Option explores her experiences in China over the following two years as she learned to maneuver around Asia, went through various jobs in Beijing, and discovered the rich rewards China offers those willing to take the plunge. Her work experience in China ranged from teaching at Chinäs top-ranked Tsinghua University to working for a drone company to judging a talent show on Chinäs national broadcasting channel. She also traveled extensively throughout Asia and learned the ins-and-outs of finding happiness and fulfillment in China. An honors graduate of Oxford University and Phillips Academy, Sophia now lives and works in the Middle East.

INTRODUCTION CHAPTER ONE
TO BEIJING OR NOT TO BEIJING?
CHAPTER TWO
FACE
CHAPTER THREE
CHINESE BEAUTY STANDARDS
COFFEE CULTURE IN CHINA
CHAPTER FOUR
CHINESE TOILETS
CHAPTER FIVE
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF THE LAOWAI BIBLE
HOW TO DEAL WITH CULTURE SHOCK
CHAPTER SIX
TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE
CHAPTER SEVEN
RACISM
CHAPTER EIGHT
SQUARE DANCING
CHAPTER NINE
LEARNING MANDARIN
CHAPTER TEN
MASTERING MANDARIN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
ENGLISH BOOKSTORES
KTV
CHAPTER TWELVE
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
LGBT LIFE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
POLLUTION (AND OTHER HAZARDS)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
TRAVEL IN CHINA
ABOUT THE AUTHOR